


Saga of the Vinlanders

by latrunkster



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Femslash, Immortality, Mild Smut, Vinland
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:26:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28355409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latrunkster/pseuds/latrunkster
Summary: Eivor brings Randvi with her to Vinland on her quest to kill Gorm Kjotvesson and restore the honor of her clan. Meanwhile, Kassandra the Eagle-Bearer, told by the staff that she is needed there, poses incognito as one of Gorm's thralls. All their fates are bound together, and behind the door of a mysterious vault they will find someone they never expected...
Relationships: Eivor/Randvi (Assassin's Creed)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 88





	1. Ships on the Tides

"Before I married into the Raven Clan," said Randvi as she leaned back into the bow of the longship, "I heard time upon time again the sagas of Erik the Red and his son Leif. Greenland, Helluland, Markland, Vinland; I enjoyed how the sagas are grand not due to some battle or feud, but the simple deed of being somewhere, as if the lands themselves are worthy enough to be given such tales."

Eivor smiled at this, enjoying the thought of it despite herself. She said, "I hope you are coming with me to do more than fish salmon and pick grapes."

"Of course, Eivor. What we will do will surpass those tales, even if that is not why we go. Though I dare say we would enjoy picking grapes together." Randvi gave a wicked smile. "Imagine me feeding a grape into your lips."

Eivor's pupils dilated at the thought of that, and then she smirked at another idea. She said, "And maybe I'll find time to catch a salmon and press its lips to yours."

Randvi scoffed, and prepared another teasing retort, but then the wind changed.

They both sat up, looking over the edge of the hull, taking in their surroundings. They were turning inland, into the mouth of a river.

"Nessa," Eivor spoke up to their boat's captain, "Why are you steering us inland? Or were the sagas wrong, and Vinland is a part of England?"

Nessa, at the rudder, answered while still keeping her gaze on the boat's direction. "This trip needs to pay for itself, Eivor. We pick up wood at Grimsby to make trade in Greenland."

"Why would wood be valuable in Greenland?" asked Randvi.

"And will this extra stop in Greenland delay our journey?" asked Eivor, before Nessa had a chance to answer Randvi's question.

Nessa answered: "It's a scarce tree that grows in Greenland. And no, if we stop at the eastern settlement in Greenland, we will not deviate from our course."

Randvi looked disappointed, and muttered to herself: "Why is it called Greenland if... I didn't hear that part of the saga."

"Okay, Nessa," said Eivor. "But I want no more surprises."

"You will have none from me, Eivor. Though I can't say anything about the sea, or Vinland itself. We may yet run afoul in a storm and drown at sea."

Eivor mentally checked her memory that yes, Randvi knew how to swim.

"When we make port, I will seek out our woodsman and bring his cart to our ship. Then, the faster you two _thralls_ load it up, the faster we'll be back on our way to Greenland."

Eivor and Randvi groaned in unison.

.

.

.

 _I could just kill them all now,_ thought Kassandra, as she made another pointless swing of the pickaxe against the hard stone beneath her. Guards of the Order oversaw her work and that of the slaves around her. She couldn't let herself stand out; she had to endure the lash, and the staff recognized the necessity of delaying her healing, lest the guards get suspicious.

 _The time to intervene is approaching, but has not yet come,_ Aletheia spoke into her mind through the amulet-formed staff around her neck.

Kassandra grunted into the next swing of the pickaxe. Kassandra didn't like it. Despite her more than one thousand years, she was still impatient at times. Aletheia's usual vagueness didn't help rein in her frustration either. At least the manual labor did, as her next swing let out a huge crack, breaking off a large chunk of stone. _I hope it comes soon, or else I will soon reach Hades._

She had been to this other half of the world once, in these virgin, trackless lands. The last time, some local chieftain had been using an Apple of Eden to force people into sacrificing themselves before him. Despite her own impatience-induced bloodlust, she hoped it wouldn't turn out so bloody this time.

"Pack up camp!" Gorm's voice suddenly called out in the Norse language, "We're moving north!"

Kassandra gave one last swing before wiping her brow.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, not too many leagues northward, behind the sealed door of a beyond-ancient vault, a lone figured paced in thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love history, lesbians, Assassin's Creed, and science fiction (not in that particular order :P), and so I just had to write this. I just loved the Vinland setting in AC: Valhalla, so I thought it would make the perfect setting for my story. Will be continuing, let me know what you think! I'm also thinking about whether or not to make this into a polylesbian romance. How long this will be depends on the feedback I get from you all!
> 
> I've only played AC2, AC:B, AC3, AC:O, and partially AC:V, so if I get any of the lore wrong let me know!


	2. Nearing the Ends of the Whale-Roads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eivor and Randvi reach Vinland; Kassandra makes some discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the response and viewership this has received! This is the first time I've written a timely 'in' fanfic, so that helps I guess!
> 
> Also, a bit of smut in this chapter, so I'm bumping the rating up!

After many loadings and off-loadings of timber, and a narwhal's share of travel along the whale-roads, a distant land of forest appeared on the horizon.

"Vinland!" Randvi called out enthusiastically with a pointed finger. "Just like the sagas..." For all of Nessa's testimony, nothing in Randvi's mind could compare to seeing it with her own eyes.

"Do not get too excited drengir," Nessa said. "Ahead is just a waystation; your honor-search may still take us farther yet. We know the whale-roads of Vinland's coast stretch at least as far as those of Norway's."

Eivor asked, "Nessa, have you made it your quest to temper Randvi's wanderlust, or is Vinland not so great after all?"

"Hmm," Nessa answered after a thought, "It is great, but I do not confuse awe with respect. They are not the same. Awe is distracting, while respect is learning."

Eivor hummed in agreement, which earned her a playful punch in the shoulder from Randvi.

Nessa said, "We will land, make camp for the night, and in the morning ask after your Gorm Kjotvesson to get our next heading. Safer that way: we ought not sleep after showing ourselves as a potential enemy. Now, thralls, take up oars and help guide us in."

Their first fated steps felt normal to their feet, yet Randvi and Eivor could feel respect for the land and their journey shivering their bones.

.

.

.

In exchange for a few spare axe-heads, valuable in this land absent a forge, the local minor jarl allowed them a small floorspace in the waystation's longhouse to sleep. Eivor and Randvi chose their spot, trying to be secluded, and cozied up together for the long night. For bedding, all they had was the hard floor and a bundle of leathers under their heads, but it was well what they were used to after upbringings of hardship and many days along the whale-roads.

It was there, in the dim, flickering light of the longhouse's fire, after the first sleep and the midnight gap, that Randvi and Eivor had their first private conversation in many weeks. They woke with Eivor spooning Randvi, and when the wolf-kissed sensed her lover waking, she began whispering sweet nothings into her ears and squeezing her waist.

"Eivor..." Randvi whispered back, waking from her dream.

But Eivor heard Randvi's tone: it was one of concern and fear. "Randvi, what is it? I'm here."

With a gasp. Randvi's eyes shot open, and she turned to grasp onto her lover.

Eivor waited for her to say something, but she remained silent. "Randvi, what happened? What plagues your mind? A nightmare?"

"I... I saw... Sigurd burning down Ravensthorpe, in a fit of anger..."

"Was it clear, as a vision, or do you think it just dream-nonsense? Would Sigurd really do that?"

Randvi sighed worriedly. "I don't know... he's changed so much... Do you think we did the right thing, leaving him to be jarl on his own?"

Eivor moved her hand up Randvi's back, and pulled her in to rub their cheeks together. "I think... Sigurd needed us to leave. To force to be jarl again, to see his duty and his people, is the best thing for him. You and I would be barriers for that."

"I suppose... he spoke in his sleep you know, sometimes even thrashing around, the pain of his memories too great. His mind is broken. But yet, hopefully being jarl will turn his mind back to calmer matters."

"And I do not worry for Ravensthorpe. Neither you, I, or Sigurd is what makes the Raven Clan great. It is our people that do that. If the worst comes, they can rebuild and survive until our return. Our allies would help as they promised."

Randvi hummed, and pulled her cheek back and gave a kiss on Eivor's lips. "Our people are great, Eivor, because you helped make them so."

Randvi kissed her lover again with more pressing need. Eivor let her lips be devoured. They began dancing their tongues together, in the same wild rate as the firelight illuminating them.

Randvi's need grew even further in a sudden rush, so she took her lover's hand in her own, and pressed it to the waistband of her britches, urgent for her need to be filled.

Their lips separated so they could breathe, and they took in each other's eyes. Eivor's eyes twinkled in the firelight, and this was reflected in Randvi's own dark eyes.

Eivor didn't hesitate for Randvi. With one hand she unfastened the loop holding up Randvi's britches, and then let her hand wander into them. She found her lover's opening, already wet and excited for her, and so she began making love: diving, rubbing, filling, providing.

Randvi whimpered at her lover's ministrations, and tried not to moan loudly, lest everyone in the longhouse hear what they were doing. Yet she needed even more: she needed to show Eivor how she was loved. She took a spare second to focus on entering her own hand into Eivor's britches, filling her lover in kind.

Randvi peaked first, overwhelmed by the pleasure they had starved for along the whale-roads. She was overwhelmed still, that Eivor was here with her. She still couldn't shake the awe that the wolf-kissed loved her too. Riding down from her peak, her _need_ to prove her love to Eivor intensified, as she hastened her care for Eivor's own opening and pressed more kisses into Eivor's lips.

The wolf-kissed's own whimpers and stifled moans grew until she too peaked. "I love you, Eivor."

Eivor hummed, "I love you too."

It was so that they were together that night: bound together, as one, and so they face their future challenges together.

.

.

.

Far away, Kassandra was wide awake and alert: due to the staff's nourishment, she had no need for sleep. This night, she resolved to get more information that Aletheia either couldn't or wouldn't tell her.

And that was why she was sneaking into Gorm Kjotvesson's tent. She carefully extracted his keys from the neck of his sleeping form, and used it to unlock a small chest he kept under his makeshift bed.

Under the light of her one good candle, she rifled through the papers that were inside. On one, she found what appeared to be an accurate map of the entire world. The knowledge was far beyond what humans should know—and so the Order must have found the map from an Isu artifact.

On the map, on the eastern coast of the foreign continent they now resided, was a mark. There were marks all over the map, including in her homeland of Greece. _Oh, Zeus..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, medieval people general slept twice in the night rather than all at once, hence Eivor and Randvi waking up in the middle of the night.
> 
> Let me know what you all think!


	3. Nearing Convergence at the Vault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things: I discovered that Gorm's Apple of Eden is actually just a crystal ball (Juno whispering into Gorm's mind). I've gone back and edited the first chapter to fix it. It hasn't affected the story yet at all, so don't worry too much about it.
> 
> Another thing (AC: VALHALLA SPOILERS!) I actually finished the AC: Valhalla game, and it led me to a few conclusions on how I will portray the Isu.  
> -They can be immortal via their technology, because it doesn't make sense that they could make something to keep humans immortal but not themselves.  
> -I won't be too picky on the names of the Isu character(s). Like, in-universe, the name 'Aletheia' is an anglicized version of the Greek's passed-down-through-oral-traditions name of the goddess/Isu character. I'm sure the details of what her name is and how its pronounced has been lost over time (though may still be reminiscent of it). Perhaps, when speaking to the human characters, the Isu just introduce themselves with these names in order to help the humans understand? Like, suppose Odin had reincarnated in Kassandra (or any Greek person) instead of Eivor, would the sage memories then manifest in the form of Zeus? If that's true, and Odin and Zeus refer to the same Isu, then the mythological parallels break down because in the Greek mythology, Zeus is the father of Aletheia? Should Aletheia treat Eivor as her father? (no)
> 
> (Space so people who skipped spoiler won't accidentally read parts of it)

Kassandra folded the map back up and set it aside. She dug further into the chest, to find Gorm's Apple of Eden.

 _It is not an Apple,_ Aletheia thought to her.

 _It certainly looks like one. What is it?_ Kassandra reached for it, to pick it up and examine it.

 _Don't take it!_ Aletheia thought in warning. _Gorm must remain in possession of it_.

 _Then I won't take it, but I will look at it._ She picked it up.

 _PUT ME DOWN!_ , a new feminine voice shouted into Kassandra's mind. _THE FATES DEMAND IT!_

Startled, and instinctively preferring to defer to the Isu technology, Kassandra quickly dropped it, covered it up with the papers, closed the chest, locked it, put the keys back around Gorm's neck, and retreated outside.

 _The time to intervene is approaching, but has not yet come,_ Aletheia said into her mind. She had said the same thing yesterday.

Kassandra sighed, went back to her spot in the digsite, and sat down to unnecessarily rest her shaken bones. She tried asking Aletheia about what just happened, but the staff was stubbornly silent again.

Waiting for 'the time to intervene', Kassandra passed time exploring her bond with her familiar, Ikaros, as he explored the skies. More camps belonging to the Order dotted the landscape east and south of the camp she was at, as did villages belonging to the natives of this land. At the Order's port camp, on the shore of the ocean, she and Ikaros spotted what looked like a longship arriving from Europe...

.

.

.

After another week's worth of travel, Nessa finally reported that they were reaching their destination: where they were told Gorm had gone. What he was doing here, they still did not know.

"I guess this be the last dock in Vinland," Nessa said as they rowed toward it. "So don't be getting lost out there; if you do, no rescue will come."

"I'll keep our wolf-kissed in line," Randvi said with another row of the oar, simultaneously winking toward her lover.

They docked, and after an affair of passing the immediate inspection of the local Order guards and camp leader, Eivor and Randvi slipped into the forest to discuss their next steps.

"Gorm will have to pass back through this little port on his way back to England or Norway," said Randvi. "We could wait him out."

"We do not know why he is here," Eivor pointed out. "He may be on a wild troll hunt that will take many winters. And if he did come back here, he would bring all of his guard back with him. Out there in the wilds, it will be easier to isolate him. We'll drive him out as a pack of wolves does a fat, encumbered reindeer."

"Alright, love," Randvi accepted easily. "You've known his clan's cruelty longer than me, and hence his weaknesses too."

All of Vinland and its strange, foreign wilds were before them.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in the vault, the lone figure's pacing was interrupted by the thought-sounding of an alarm. They checked the system to see what it was.

The alarm's message read: "PROXIMITY WARNING: Eastern vault containment door detecting movement."

When the figure had last checked, that door, like the others, was buried and not exposed to the surface. _Oh no..._

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm keeping Ikaros alive, because another thing in canon that doesn't make sense to me is how the staff's immortality dries up so quickly after its bearer passes it on to its next owner. Like, if it works like the Shrouds of Eden, nanotechnology that builds/maintains healthy cells, then what could cause the cells to die so quickly? I think Ubisoft only showed the rapid aging because of how cinematic it is, I guess. What if Kassandra accidentally dropped the staff, as is bound to happen? So I'm saying that Ikaros would only have to perch on the staff from time to time in order to live forever with Kassandra.
> 
> Also, Ikaros is awesome, and this is a fanfic, so why not. I can't wait for Ikaros and Sýnin to have fun together! :D
> 
> Oh, and I don't have a beta reader. If any of you are interested in being one, let me know!


	4. Fracturing Pensation

The mysterious person checked the door's visual sensors, the image being projected into her mind...

 _Humans!_ They were digging through the earth, revealing the door to the surface. _How did they find me here? Why are they here? What do they want with me, with this place? Is it Juno, that witch, and the planetary shield?_

She had been buried in this grand temple all this time, since the catastrophe. Millennia upon millennia of isolation. Was that about to end now? She didn't know whether to be excited, or full of angst. _Will the humans attack me, kneel before me, or rub cheeks with me?_

She wasn't even sure she'd be able to communicate with the humans. Sure, curious from time to time, she had connected to other vaults and nexus nodes to observe the humans in the world, but had never taken time to learn any of their languages, seeing how each group humans had developed their own independent language anyway.

Regardless of what she wanted or did, she knew the humans, far more intuitive than they had been created to be, would find a way inside, and they would meet her. Should she observe and wait for them, or take initiative and open the door from her side?

.

.

.

"This is troll-wood!" yelled an angry, exasperated Eivor as yet another attempt at crafting the heft of an axe failed.

Eivor and Randvi each had smuggled an axehead and knife under their tunics. But the woods about them were foreign and unworkable. They didn't have time to figure out which kind of wood was the most workable at this time of year. Randvi tried lashing their knifes onto branches in order to make crude spears, but she couldn't find a lashing that was strong enough to not snap under pressure. Building a bow was out the question, requiring both good wood and good lashing.

"We need to either find someone who knows these woods so we can build our weapons, steal someone else's weapons, or trade for weapons," Eivor planned as Randvi resigned herself to using her knife to trim the ends of branches into crude wooden spears.

"And armor? Do we layer the leather, or find some gambeson or metal?"

"This is worse than the time Kjotve's men captured me. We'll take whatever we can get."

They took a moment to pensate, where the only sounds were the ethereal songs of foreign birds, Randvi's whittling away at the sticks, and the beats of their own hearts.

Catching salmon or finding grapes didn't sound so easy anymore.

"The sagas..." Randvi spoke up, "They did tell of a people here, a native people. Perhaps we could find them and get them to help us."

"Hmm. Either that, or it will be our turn to be snakes in the grass."

.

.

.

As time went on, Kassandra's nerves grew worse and worse. Ever since Aletheia's simulations in Atlantis, she had always trusted the staff and the ancient consciousness inside of it. Gods or goddesses may try to spin lies or trickery around her, but she could always trust the staff. Right? Aletheia's silence was discomforting.

 _I cannot speak more on this to you,_ Aletheia mind-spake then, _or else the probabilities may turn against us._

 _Against you, at least,_ Kassandra thought warily.

They had unearthed the door to a vault made by the ancient ones, the Isu. Kassandra recognized the architecture from the ones she had seen in Greece and elsewhere in the world. All it would take was a bit of her blood to open it, yet all she did was stand aside as Gorm and his Order of Ancients lackeys puzzled over it for hours on end.

_How far do you want them go before I intervene, Aletheia? Will you have them take an armada of apples before you loose me?_

_I-I..._ Aletheia's mind-speak stuttered uncharacteristically. _Yes! There it is! The probability! Keeper, you must wait until the Wolf-Kissed, the Raven-Bearer comes..._


	5. Meeting At Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our four protagonists finally come together!

_Who is the Wolf-Kissed, the Raven-Bearer?_ Kassandra asked the staff.

Aletheia did not answer. Typical.

Wolf-Kissed? So the person had survived a wolf attack? _If so, they must have some kind of strength to them._

Raven-Bearer? This one was more complicated. Being called the 'Eagle-Bearer' herself, did that mean this stranger was similarly bonded to a raven? The fates, and perhaps inklings of Isu blood had to be strong in them for such a bond to happen. It was all about bloodlines. Were they a Hidden One, or a member of the Order?

 _Ikaros, keep an eye open for any lone ravens,_ she thought to the bird, and she felt his vision sharpen as he watched from his perch further up the hillside.

Her reverie was broken by more stubborn yelling from Gorm Kjotvesson, who was in the dug-out cave, at the door to the vault. "Get the door design on paper to send back to those desk-weaklings in Paris, and then have the thralls start building a ram. We're ramming this door down!"

Later that day, Kassandra found herself helping to build a ram she knew wouldn't work. May as well try to destroy the whole hill with a twig.

 _Ah, there it is! They're coming,_ Kassandra suddenly thought as Ikaros spotted a lone raven flying high above the not-too-distant landscape.

.

.

.

 _Sýnin, come here,_ Eivor called to her raven in her mind, prompting the bird to perch on her arm. And so they the three of them were: Eivor, Randvi, and Sýnin, perched on a rocky ledge overlooking Gorm's camp.

They had found a village belonging to the natives, and they traded their axeheads for two wood-and-stone clubs. The end of the clubs looked like round balls, and at the hitting points stood out wicked obsidian spikes that could cleave right into a man's skull. Perhaps it was a downgrade from what could have been proper axes, but as it was they had gone from unarmed to armed, so everyone benefited. Everyone except for Gorm Kjotvesson, that is. They still had the wooden spears they had made before, and combined with a spear-thrower they would suffice for ranged combat. Not as good as a bow, but it would get the job done.

For armor, they had tracked down a den of bears and took a day to wrap themselves up with their skins. They perhaps could have left the leather to cure longer, but as it was it still afforded them a fair amount of protection and padding. They stitched their outfits together with the lashings the natives had shown them how to use.

And now they had tracked Gorm to this camp, and they were ready.

"Here's our plan," Eivor spoke up. "I'll sneak in on the south side, dropping down into the digging pits. I'll take out the guards as I work my way back up. Once I reach the center of the camp, I'll confront Gorm and attack him. That should draw everyone's attention. Use that moment to flank on the other side and hit them in the back with the spear thrower. Once you run out of spears, run in to help me finish them off."

"Ever, the war leader, love," Randvi smiled and kissed Eivor. "For luck. I'll start moving into position on the other side."

Eivor watched Randvi start off, before turning to do her own part of the plan. Sýnin flew into the air, ready to help Eivor keep her stealth.

.

.

.

Kassandra, through Ikaros, watched the two strangers as they began working their way down to the camp, as she continued drilling the handle-holes into the battering ram. She observed them carefully: they were both women, kitted with clothing and gear that matched that of the indigenous people in the area. One stayed distant, while the other started sneaking into camp on the other side opposite of Kassandra's position.

And that woman _has a hidden blade on her forearm! But on the outside of it?_ It didn't make sense. As far as Kassandra knew, the Hidden Ones hadn't made headway into this side of the world before. And on the outside of the forearm? It was all unorthodox.

 _Aletheia, what do I do?! The Wolf-Kissed is here!,_ she thought to the staff as the Hidden One began working her way through the camp, spilling the blood of both guards and thralls alike. Kassandra couldn't blame her for that, as they were all dressed similarly and even the thralls were using axes and knives. And being spotted in this land meant instant attention, whether by thrall or guard. Kassandra was just glad that it was for now isolated to opposite side of the camp.

_ALETHEIA! Shall you have me wait for her to slit my throat too?_

_Keeper,_ Aletheia answered calmly, not acknowledging Kassandra's frustration or panic, _for now, you must befriend and aid the Wolf-Kissed, but do not trust her._

 _Okay, that should be simple. Yeah, gain her trust whilst she beats me with her club,_ Kassandra thought sarcastically. She was really going to have to pull a trick to get through this one. And if she wasn't careful, the Wolf-Kissed's companion might come stab her in the back.

 _Ikaros,_ she thought to her eagle, _start following that raven around. Get its attention._ He did, and observing carefully, she noticed that her eagle's action had caused the Hidden One to falter in her step. _Ah, yes, so she and the raven are bonded._

Soon enough, still, the Hidden One reached the center of the camp. "Gorm Kjotvesson," she suddenly called out then, breaking her stealth, getting the attention of everyone in the camp.

Gorm, who had been looking into the cave and at the vault door, turned around, and his eyes went wide.

"There's nowhere left in Midgard for you to run, you coward!"

"Ei-Eivor Wolf-Kissed?!" Gorm answered, bewildered, as the Hidden One started approaching with her club held high.

Gorm drew his sword to parry, but Kassandra then stopped paying attention as she soon had her own fight to deal with.

A spear came flying toward her from behind, and sensing it, Kassandra caught it, and then threw it herself with all her Spartan strength at a pair of guards who were rushing to help Gorm. The spear pieced all the way through the first guard and into the second guard; both fell.

The staff, which had so far masqueraded as an Order of the Ancient Medallion around her neck, she summoned into her hand in the form of a wooden club. _Hopefully using a similar weapon will endear me to them..._

She unleashed herself on the guards around her as the spears stopped raining down. Soon, the Wolf-Kissed's companion ran in to be the last participant to join the fray.

Between them, the enemy stood no chance and did not last long.

After that, they turned to see that likewise, Eivor had managed to club her weapon straight into Gorm's forehead, the obsidian spike piercing straight into his brain. He collapsed onto the ground.

The battle finished, Eivor came over to check her companion. The two looked over Kassandra warily, and Kassandra looked back at them. They were all breathing heavily, too into the battle-high to be able to say anything.

Interrupting the haze, then, was a low, earth-moving grinding noise coming from the direction of the Isu vault. They all look over to it, to see that the door was opening.

The door was _opening._

 _Aletheia, how is that?! We didn't open it!_ Kassandra mind-spake to the staff.

 _I don't know!_ Aletheia sounded panicked. _This wasn't in any of the calculations!_

Out of the darkness of the vault stepped forward an ethereal, glowing figure. Kassandra felt a shiver rack its way down her body, as the image before her stirred memories of her time in Atlantis' simulations.

Then there was silence, save for the beats of their collective four hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a chapter! That image is what I think my Isu character looks like (though with a different hairstyle)(it's an edited image of Kassandra wearing one of the special AC:O cosmetics)
> 
> The games weren't always consistent in their depictions of the Isu: holograms, fuzzy genetic memories, bad lighting, cultural lenses, and blurry late-2000s rendering muddy the waters. In my headcanon, they are taller than the average human, the glowing lines on their bodys are a part of them (as opposed to being a part of the clothing/technology)(and so in the image above, the glowy parts of the skin are shining through the skintight clothing), and the Isu had the technology to customize their appearances far more than we can (skin color, eye color, etc).
> 
> My Isu's clothing is also imbued with Isu technology: it's like the staff in that it can transform itself, and it has sustaining/healing/immortality properties. So a lot of that stuff will be fair game in the future.
> 
> Now I have to figure out how I'm going to even start the next chapter haha.


	6. Spooky Bonding at a Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our (subconsciously useless lesbian) heroines finally band together, stumbling as they go!

A living, breathing Isu, in the flesh: not a hologram, not a simulation, not a memory. Kassandra was used to being the tallest woman around, but this Isu was taller by a short cubit. Its skin appeared gray with glowing lines covering its body. Only a skirt appeared to protect its modesty. The Isu observed them with its purple eyes.

_Be cautious, Keeper. I do not know this Isu; she may be friend, or foe. Ally, slaver, or stranger._

_Would she fight as they did in the simulations?_ Kassandra asked the staff, searching for experience to base this encounter on.

 _Yes and no. She might not be a warrior at all,_ Aletheia answered.

Kassandra, as she kept her wary gaze on the Isu, noticed in the back of her mind that the Wolf-Kissed and her companion were backpedaling carefully, as one would when faced with a predator.

 _Well,_ Kassandra thought, _if the Isu means to attack us, it has already lost the element of surprise, and would have attacked by now._ Kassandra didn't notice the Isu carrying any weapons, though she knew that didn't mean anything.

"Eivor Wolf-Kissed," Kassandra turned to face her and spoke up in Norse, trying to take control of the awkward situation, "Don't leave me to face this alone." Kassandra gambled that appealing to the drengr's sense of honor would get her to stay. Kassandra wanted to keep them together; she had to meet this Isu, she knew, yet she was also quested by the staff to befriend Eivor. Kassandra didn't know what else she could do to try to get the Wolf-Kissed to stay, as she too was still confused and bewildered by the Isu's presence.

Kassandra then let the staff assume the shape of a unremarkable necklace. It did so in a flash, and then she clasped it around her neck. She did this so that she can then hold her arms out in a placating, surrendering, position. Doing this perhaps contradicted what she had implied to Eivor, that she needed help facing this Isu in _combat_ , but regardless, it still felt like the right way to deescalate the situation.

Eivor and her companion stopped their retreat, but did not come closer. They still held their clubs at the ready.

"What kind of god-trick drengr is this?! Is this troll-magic?!" Eivor asked in awe and courageous fear.

Kassandra turned back to face the Isu, who was still standing where it had before. It had mirrored Kassandra's placating pose, arms out and palms forward. _Still trying to be friendly, at least._ Then Kassandra saw the Isu's mouth move, and these sounds came out: "Shnàkwràs wæ kichwr teri yhtr, Siris lôràs hwmày kæw."

 _She thanks us for digging her out,_ Aletheia translated into Kassandra's mind. _And her name is Siris._ Kassandra was grateful the staff was deciding to be proactive now, instead of staying in its usual withdrawn state, or else she would be helpless in trying to talk to the Isu.

She turned back to Eivor, to try to explain. "Eivor, my name is Kassandra. And this," she gestured toward it— _her_ , that is, the Isu—"is Siris. You know of the Order of the Ancients, yes? Well, Siris here is one of those Ancients they worship. I think." She let her own confusion show on her face.

.

.

.

I, Siris, stood still and calm before the humans. The one tall brunette female, the one who seemed to possess a transfigurable Isu weapon, seemed to have some understanding of what I was, having said my name, 'Siris', when she pointed me. She and the other humans were talking about me with confusion, fear, awe, and respect, though I did not understand their words. Rather I felt it in their minds.

Then I felt a strange, foreign thought-interface try to connect with me. I blocked it, and then pinged it to try to find its source. I detected it to be under the body of one of the slain humans, the big male one who was skull-skewered by the blonde female.

I slowly moved to the body. I tried to accelerate slowly, but still managed to startle the humans, as they stopped talking among themselves and their hyper-aware gazes snapped back to me. When I reached the body, I turned it over and crouched down to find the item. _Why do these people have technology from my people? Is it commonplace among the humans?_ I didn't know of any other of my kind still alive, and didn't think anything from that bygone age was still being manufactured.

I found the item, one of our spherical communicators. I let the interface brush my mind, to hear a voice scream into my mind, one I hadn't heard in millennia: _WHY ARE YOU?! YOU ARE A CONTRADICTION, THE NUMBERS AND FUTURES—_

Juno! I disconnected from the communicator, dropped it, and then crushed it under my foot with such force as to pulverize it. My second skin protected me from the shattered crystal and glass beneath my foot.

_Was that man in league with Juno, that witch? They must have been trying to get in to activate the planetary shield device and release her!_

I took several steps back then, careful of these other humans' intentions. I summoned a spear into my hands and pointed it at them warily. _Are they in league with Juno too?_ I had taken a key component out of the planetary shield's activator, so they wouldn't be able to release Juno without it. _But then, hold on, they killed that man didn't they, the one with the communicator? Do they even know who Juno is?_

"Are you here to release Juno?" I asked in my language. The brunette human had seemed to understand me before. I needed to know this. If they said yes, I wouldn't let them. They would have to get through me. I was rusty with a spear, not having fought with it ever, really, but I would give it my all.

The humans started talking together again. The brunette seemed to be explaining things to the other two females. She then turned back to me and said, in my language, "No." Then, after a pause, in a terrible, broken accent, as if she were uncomfortable with the words, "We... st-stay out here."

 _This language barrier is terrible. They're staying out here? So they don't want inside the temple? Am I understanding that right?_ Through the thought-interface then, I closed the temple's door. The humans watched it close, but didn't react in any way. _Good, so they don't want to trespass on my home or release Juno._ That was a weight off my shoulders. I lowered the spear and then had it disappear.

"We n-never see Isu before," the brunette human said in that same broken accent. _So they know what I am, but didn't expect to find me?_

"Okay!" I smiled, remembering the expression of nicety. "Nice to meet you. What are your names?" May as well try to break down the fear and awe still lingering in them. I was excited for this. I didn't have any particular goals in mind, but having been trapped in that temple for millennia, I was starved for anything. Sure, our medical technology ensured I didn't suffer _too_ terribly from social isolation sickness, but I'd still be happy for _anything_ that would have me use my voice or stretch my limbs.

The brunette started speaking to answer, "I am—" but then we were interrupted! We both sensed it, a party of more humans approaching through the forest. When they came into view, I saw they wore the same uniforms as the slain ones on the ground.

Well, shucks. I'd been out for only a few minutes, and our party was already being crashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, coming up with those Isu words was fun (went back to what Sigurd said in the AC Valhalla ending and got inspired by the patterns used there).
> 
> Also, this chaptered I tried a bit of first-person from Siris' perspective. I thought doing this would help me be more expressive and help you understand her character better (and having 4 females all using the same pronouns can get confusing). So I may continue doing first-person, but only for her POV. Don't worry, we'll still get some Eivor/Randvi POV in too! What do you all think of Siris? Should I continue with the first-person for her?


	7. Tasting Valhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eivor and Randvi battle for their lives. One of the most important moments in their lives is just about to happen.

Stuck between a stranger and her mysterious (troll, jǫtunn, or elf?) friend, and a wall of a dozen of Gorm's guards staring them down, Eivor didn't have much time to decide what to do.

"Eivor," Randvi whispered to her, "This Kassandra helped me slay the guards on my flank. She'll help us."

The pair backed up as the wall of guards took advantage of their numbers by locking their shields together and advancing into the camp as one. Even with this Kassandra's help, Eivor estimated, being outnumbered three-to-one in the open like this may be insurmountable.

"Stay behind me!" they heard Kassandra call from beside them. They spared a glance at her, to see she had a bow and was aiming it at the shield wall. Where had she gotten that from? And the quiver? She hadn't had one before (as a wise drengr notices these things). Did she get it from one of the slain guards?

Kassandra released her arrow with a twang, and Eivor's quick eye followed its trajectory to see it weasel over the shield wall and through an eye-slit of a soldier's helmet. Not bad. Within a half second, Kassandra released another arrow, which again was a mans-eye. At the same time, a large bird seemed to appear _out of nowhere_ and tackled itself into the head of one of the men, throwing him to the ground.

"I said get behind me!" Kassandra called out in frustration. _Does she plan to take them all herself?_ The nine remaining men in the shield wall, not keen to be so picked apart, decided to charge. Eivor and Randvi only had a second to decide what to do, only enough time for their shield-maiden experience to kick in. They raised their clubs together, and together they would stand, as a bulwark of ice that could not be moved.

"Odin owns you all!" they cried out. Beside them, Kassandra let out a war cry of her own, but one that sounded as if it were more imbued with exasperation than battle-energy.

When the shields hit them, Randvi and Eivor crouched low, simultaneously dodging the swings of axes and swords and letting the two enemy shields fall over them. They then stood, throwing those two enemies behind them.

With that pair of enemies at least temporarily dazed, the two drengir could focus on the three enemies still before them. They had to deal with them quickly, or else the two behind them would recover and they'd be completely surrounded.

Still, they were on the back foot. Three arms versus two, Eivor and Randvi had to get by with parrying and dodging. They couldn't focus on defeating any individual enemy, or else the third would strike them from the side.

Eivor and Randvi split up then, knowing that whoever pulled two enemies with her could survive while letting the other defeat their individual enemy. That was what happened: two went after Randvi, letting Eivor focus on one.

And here, she was overwhelmingly the better fighter. With a quick dodge and rush, she clubbed her enemy right in the jugular, the spike on her club stabbing deep into his now blood-gurgling throat.

With him slain, Eivor turned around and used her hidden blade to kill from behind one of the soldiers that had been distracting himself with fighting Randvi. The remaining soldier backpaced then, retreating.

By then, however, the two enemies that had been knocked over had recovered and were charging them from behind. Focusing on her own enemy, Eivor grabbed his sword as he went in for a stab, pulling it from his group. Then she tackled him to the ground, and half-sworded the blade through his helmet, killing him.

As she stood, she heard Randvi cry out in pain, and Eivor saw her clutching a wound at her side. The two remaining soldiers stood over her, sword and axe raised.

Enraged, she threw the sword she still carried toward one of the men, impaling him clean through his neck. She then threw her club at the other, but being unpracticed in its balance, only the handle end hit the man, bouncing off him. He had his axe raised for a killing blow—

 _No!_ But they were too far, no time—

A spear suddenly erupted through the man, all the way through his back armor, his flesh, his ribs, and out his front armor. _Who?—_

Behind, stood _her,_ the jǫtunn, or whatever this 'Siris' was. She must have thrown the spear, and with such _power_ too.

With a quick glance she saw that all of their enemies were defeated, Kassandra and presumably Siris too having slain the others. Eivor then rushed over to Randvi, who was still sitting on the ground clutching her side.

"Broke through a kink in the leather," Randvi huffed with a battle-high laugh, while Eivor desperately ripped away Randvi's hands and the leathers to check the wound.

It was _deep_ , just below the ribcage, and perfusing in blood.

"How bad is it?" asked Kassandra, joining them on the ground.

"Bad," Eivor answered, "I think it's into her stomach and guts, maybe the kidney too."

"Don't worry," Randvi eeked out through the pain, "I grew two kidneys, just for this moment. Spare parts."

Eivor and Randvi smiled, despite both of them knowing this wound, either by bleeding out in a few minutes or by longer sickness, was most likely mortal.

"Remember the time we climbed that tower in wet furs?" Randvi laughed, with tears wetting her yes, as Eivor desperately put pressure on the wound with the torn leathers and clothes. "And I said being with you was like a dream which I wasn't keen to wake from? I love you, Eivor."

"You'll wake in Valhalla. You wait for me there." Eivor pressed a sad kiss to Randvi's wet, paling cheeks.

"Every moment had been worth it. Let neither of us have regrets." Randvi clutched Eivor's arm and squeezed tightly.

A sudden flash of light then startled them, as the jǫtunn, Siris, just _appeared_ there. In her hands she held a shining, golden cloth. She walked to them, as Eivor and Randvi watched with wary awe.

Siris then draped the cloth around Randvi's neck. _What is this? A jǫtunn death ritual missing from the sagas?_

But then, Eivor felt something strange. As she pushed on Randvi's wound, something _pushed back._ She pulled her bundle back, to see what it was.

The wound sealed itself and closed rapidly before her eyes.

Eivor looked back at Siris. She instinctively knew that _somehow, for some reason_ , this stranger had saved _her_ Randvi.

Randvi looked down then, to see why Eivor had stopped pressing the wound, only to find that the wound was gone. Eivor and Randvi looked into each other's eyes, and they kept crying, as their sad tears turned into happy ones. They pressed their foreheads together. They both knew they had been blessed with this extra chance, and they would make it count. They resolved for their bond to remain strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I definitely did NOT cry while writing the ending of this chapter, and I definitely did NOT have to hug my cat as I bawled out in tears ;_; I love you all! <3 stay safe everyone!


	8. Culture Clash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our quartet finally settle down and start learning about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've recently been diagnosed with small fibre neuropathy. It mostly manifests as random pains, muscle spasms, numbness, and gut problems. Hopefully I'll find a cause that can be treated.
> 
> Stay safe, stay hydrated everyone! Love you all! <3

"You so pretty for so old!"

Kassandra groaned. She was trying to teach Siris to speak Norse, and was mostly succeeding, but she was exasperated by how _childish_ Siris was behaving. She never would have expected this from an Isu. Her experience taught her that they were instead often stubborn, manipulative, and tricky, with a superior-than-thou attitude. Even if the Isu cared for humans as 'equals', they still tended to be stubborn in their care, like a mother forcing her children to doing what's best. Even Aletheia acted like a bullheaded mother sometimes. Siris was turning Kassandra's knowledge on its head.

They had made camp for the night, resting their exhausted sinews and bones before doing whatever they were going to do the next day. Eivor and Randvi were off to the side, under a lean-to they had constructed, laying and whispering to each other. Kassandra got the impression that the pair didn't trust strangers often, but were content enough with the day's battle-bonds to be comfortable staying with Kassandra and the Isu for the night.

"Yes, well," she finally responded to Siris, "This item keeps me healthy." She pointed at and grasped the amulet-formed staff around her neck. She didn't elaborate on the staff or Aletheia's presence in it, not sure as to how Siris would react to that. "How old are you? Where is your family?"

Siris looked away, and her face hardened. Kassandra got the impression that the Isu became angry, but not at Kassandra particularly. "I have more than seventy-thousand years. Mother gone long ago. Father was never there, he _left_ us. But no more talk about that."

"You were down in there, for seventy thousand years? Alone? Was there no one?" Kassandra couldn't believe it. Sure she felt alone sometimes, alone in her solemn duty, one that she thought nobody else could ever understand. But she still had Ikaros, and she was still in the world, a part of it. But Siris had been _trapped_ and _alone_ for so much longer!

"No, no one." Siris' frown didn't last long, as she then smiled widely and said, "Now I have you three! We stay together and have fun!"

Kassandra got the impression that Siris was all for fun and games, like a child let loose, like a child given a new set of toys for the first time. Kassandra could only hope that Siris would grow to become attached and sentimental to her (and perhaps Eivor and Randvi too), instead of being discarded when the next human comes along.

Because Zeus knew, she couldn't let the Order of the Ancients or the Hidden Ones get control over Siris. Kassandra shouldn't even let them _know_ about her. Both of the secret societies would drill her for information and secrets. But then how would Eivor and Randvi play into that? Kassandra would ask them about that later, about having that hidden blade.

She was also starting to think that if Siris ever was captured, though, the Isu would 'playfully' escape, none the wiser to the machinations around her. Or that even if she were aware of them, she considered them so insignificant as to be unworthy of her attention.

"Oh, how do I say _krtæràs_ in Norse?!"

 _Asshole,_ Aletheia translated into Kassandra's mind.

Kassandra sighed.

.

.

.

"Can I kiss you?" Randvi whispered into Eivor's ear, and then pulled back to look at the firelight's glint in her lover's eyes.

"Of course, love. What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean... in front of them." Randvi nodded toward where Siris and Kassandra were sitting by the fire.

"They already know don't they?" Eivor punctuated her response by pressing her lips to Randvi's for a quick peck.

Randvi smiled. This was pure unabashed Eivor. "But what if they tell Sigurd?"

"You think they'll come back to England with us?" And it was in asking that, that Eivor realized that they still didn't know much about their impromptu companions. Battle-bonds had been forged between them, yes, but they still didn't know why Kassandra or this jǫtunn was here in Vinland in the first place.

As if on cue, Eivor sensed the strange Kassandra stand up from by the fire and walk over to where they were laying down. She crouched in front of them, and Eivor and Randvi sat up. Behind Kassandra, Eivor looked to see Siris playing with... a golden eagle? Huh?

"So..." Kassandra spoke up first. "It's time for us to talk. Randvi, how are you feeling?"

"The wound... is still gone," the drengr answered hesitantly, as if a part of her still didn't believe it.

"Good. It should stay gone. Eivor... I noticed that blade. Are you a member of the Hidden Ones?"

This made Eivor tense. What was Kassandra playing at? How did she fit into this? "No... but I was given it by a friend, who is a Hidden One. Are you?"

Kassandra paused to think, her expression turning pensive. "No. This friend... are you close to them?"

Eivor thought about the Hidden Ones she knew. Hytham was definitely a friend, and his information networks were vital for her affairs all over England. Basim, the one who gave her the blade, was more aloof. While he was friendly on the surface, he also had a conniving glint in his eye. He had helped fill Sigurd's head with all that nonsense. Eivor wasn't... she didn't know whether the nonsense was true or not, but it didn't matter. With the words, Basim had driven a wedge between Sigurd and his clan. And the glint in Basim's eye made Eivor think that he _knew_ things, and that he was _using_ Sigurd for some mysterious ends. "Yes and no," she finally answered.

"Okay." Kassandra paused to think again. Then she took a deep breath, the topic heavy on her mind. "I will tell you my story then, and what I know of Siris. It all started, thousands and thousands of years ago..."


End file.
